CONCORD, New Hampshire, May 31 -- The New Hampshire Department of Insurance issued the following news release:

The New Hampshire Insurance Department will host two information sessions in June on the health insurance networks likely to be available on New Hampshire's Marketplace in 2019. The first session will take place Wednesday, June 13, from 2-3 p.m. in Concord, at the Walker Building, 21 South Fruit Street, in conference room 274. The second will be held online on Friday, June 15, from 1-2 p.m. Both sessions are free and open to the public. Members of the New Hampshire Insurance Department will share information about the networks proposed by the insurance companies that have applied to offer plans on the federally facilitated New Hampshire Marketplace in 2019.

"We provide these information sessions to help consumers, and those who work with consumers, get a detailed sense of what the proposed plan networks will look like next year for the health plans offered on the Marketplace," said New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny. "Transparency allows New Hampshire residents to make informed choices about their health insurance and to provide the department with input, when needed."

Three companies have applied to offer individual plans in 2019: Ambetter from NH Healthy Families; Anthem; and Harvard Pilgrim. Anthem has applied to offer small-group plans to groups of 50 employees or fewer through the Marketplace's Small Business Health Options (SHOP) program. Two companies have applied to offer dental insurance, both as individual plans and through SHOP: Anthem and Delta Dental.

New Hampshire'sHealth Insurance Marketplace is run by a partnership between the federal government and the state. The Insurance Department reviews the forms and rates for the proposed plans, and then recommends them for final approval by the federal government, which operates the Marketplace. May 16 was the deadline for insurance companies to submit initial form filings to the Insurance Department; companies have until June 29 to submit final rates to the department.

The Insurance Department will make its final recommendations to the federal government by August 22, and the federal government will formally sign off on plans by October 5. Open enrollment for 2019 individual plans will take place between November 1 and December 15. (SHOP plans can be purchased by an employer throughout the year.)

By law, the Insurance Department cannot release rate information for 2019 Marketplace plans until November 1. If any proposed rates reflect an increase of 15% or more above last year's rates, the federal government, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will publish information about them, likely sometime this summer, at this site: https://ratereview.healthcare.gov. The public can provide comment to the Commissioner on the proposed networks for up to two weeks following the information sessions. The due date for public comments is June 29th and they can be submitted to [email protected].